Some of the best batters in Indian cricket history have their roots in Mumbai. This includes Sachin Tendulkar, who owns a number of run-scoring records that remain far beyond the grasp of hitters, and Sunil Gavaskar, the first player to cross 10,000 runs in Test cricket. Mumbai is renowned for having a “khadoos” attitude where appreciation must be earned. Therefore, it is noteworthy when Suryakumar Yadav, who changed several of the T20I cricket record books in 2022, is mentioned in the same sentence as Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, and Vijay Manjrekar.
Vilas Godbole admitted to whispering in a teenage player’s ear when he was the Mumbai under-22 team’s coach ten years ago. “He was very talented then too, now we can argue that he should have played for India earlier but the way he came back was remarkable. I saw him playing reverse sweeps to medium pacers. I have seen (Sunil) Gavaskar-(Sachin) Tendulkar closely but never saw someone so special,” Godbole is quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
Godbole claimed that Suryakumar’s assured batting style makes him think of the illustrious Manjrekar. When India plays Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the three-match series on Tuesday, the 32-year-old, who has captained Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and represented them in their most recent match against Saurashtra, will finally play in an international cricket match at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai’s home ground.
“He (Manjrekar) carried that arrogance and confidence while batting. The best players set the tone of the game. They know where the bowlers are going to bowl. This is the hallmark of a great batsman. Gavaskar had it, Tendulkar had it, and now I can see it in Surya. They know where the bowler is going to bowl. Surya is more dangerous, as he can hit behind the wicket too,” he said.
In the format, Suryakumar was only the second player to score more than 1000 runs in a calendar year in 2022. He finished the year with the most runs scored, 1164 runs with an absurd strike rate of 187.43. His total of 68 sixes in T20s over the calendar year is by far the most anyone has ever scored during that time period. Despite KL Rahul’s absence, Surya’s excellent performance in the shortest format won him the role of vice-captain for the Sri Lanka T20Is. The position of captain was granted to Hardik because Rohit Sharma, the team’s usual captain, is still recovering from a thumb injury.
